Thursday, September 6, 2018

How To Afford the Trip of a Lifetime

If you’ve always dreamed of taking the trip of a lifetime, then you’ll likely already have some idea of where you would go and what you would do - but perhaps, this trip never really took into account children. Indeed, when we have children, everything changes and with regard to travel what was once simple becomes a little more complicated and often a lot more expensive.

In this article, we’re going to take a look at a few ideas on how to make travel more affordable as a family - but rather than offer the standard cost saving tips, it’s often better to look at repurposing your travel budget in order to squeeze the most out of it. After all, there’s no point having $5,000 plans if you only have a $500 budget.

No matter what travel hacks you read, there are few viable ways to do this, unless of course, you happen to be a travel blogger that can apply for complimentary media visits in return for editorial content.

This article therefore looks at making the most of what you have.

Now,, if you’re thinking of taking a trip of a lifetime with your family chances are you won’t be looked to ACS to find out how much it costs to charter a private plane, unless you have a huge family - in which case, it can actually work out cheaper than flying with a standard airline; particularly if the two points aren’t on a well established route… but when you think about the intrinsic value of a flight, and boil it down to its most basic value proposition, a flight offers to get you from Point A to Point B.

Commercial airlines such as Delta have a wonderful way of pitching this service in such a way that makes us want to upgrade to a seat with more leg room, better food, and perhaps a glass of champagne upon take-off, but when it comes down to it, a flight is a flight and if you can save money on your flight, then the savings can be invested into something more splurge worthy such as a fancy villa right on the beach, or even a cool convertible to drive around the island in style!

FLIGHTS

When it comes to saving money on flights, the first thing you need to do is head to a comparison website such as Skyscanner, as these websites compare hundreds of flights in a matter of seconds and display the cheapest, fastest and most convenient flights to get you from A to B.

There’s a similar concept called Rome2Rio that incorporates a variety of transport methods, including driving, trains, coaches, ferries and planes; showing you the approximate cost for each option along with suggested itineraries based on the time you wish to start out.

The great thing about Skyscanner is that it allows you to search flexibly - so rather than being limited to a day, or even a particular destination, you can search for the whole month or airports within a particular country (e.g. UK) or even a specific city (e.g. London of which there are four major airports you could fly into - each costing a different amount of money).

The way to save money when it comes to flying, other than AirMiles and the like, is to book well in advance and be as flexible as possible. It’s understood that not everyone can be flexible as flights have to work around time off from work and other commitments, but it’s interesting to note that often there are six flights in a particular week that are $150, for instance, and then one day when the flights are just $45!

In a nutshell, flexibility is your friend when it comes to booking flights.

ACCOMODATION

When we think of the trip of a lifetime, we tend to think in terms of fancy hotels, and where you stay certainly does make a huge difference to your overall experience - yet, today with the power of crowdsourcing there are sites such as AirBnB that offer premium places to stay at much more affordable prices than most hotels.

Indeed, you can rent an entire villa that’s right on the beach for the same amount as a family room in a chain hotel. Not only does it provide better value, but also, it’s a much better experience as you tend to stay more as a local and feel much more like a settled guest rather than a transient tourist.

If you are looking for a hotel, however, then be sure to head to a comparison site such as TravelSupermarket which does a similar job to SkyScanner in that it will compare multiple providers to find you the best deal on a particular property.

SQUEEZING THE MOST OF YOUR SPENDING MONEY

When it comes to spending money, this is where most people feel the pinch, as it’s not a nice feeling to want to do things such as fun activities but not have the money to comfortably afford them… this is particularly true on family holidays, as the last thing you want, is to feel like you are depriving your children of their optimal experience.

In this vein, you need to look at ways to squeeze the most of your spending money so that you can indulge in some really “wow” experiences, whilst cutting costs on aspects you aren’t so bothered about.

For instance, if you were to be at a hotel on a half board basis, you could perhaps put together a little packed lunch from the breakfast buffet - saving you money on a tourist priced lunch. You can get public transport, rather than have the expense of a car, and things like this.

It doesn’t always have to be about saving money in order to have more to spend when on holiday… it can be the case of making better use of the money you do have, in order to be able to afford the trip of a lifetime without breaking the bank.